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Concieo
Jul 24, 2014 1:45:32 GMT -6
Post by ashestoApples on Jul 24, 2014 1:45:32 GMT -6
April 10th, 2026, just after midnight_________________________
Concieo: Latin. Verb. 1. make conscious or alert. 2. to bring together, assemble. 3. start, evoke; stimulate. _________________________
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Concieo
Jul 24, 2014 1:48:17 GMT -6
Post by ashestoApples on Jul 24, 2014 1:48:17 GMT -6
zykrinnox: The smell of death filled the air as the jeep hummed, making its way quickly to the checkpoint. Everyone knew that smell nowadays-- everyone who had come into contact with the undead, anyway, as everyone in the jeep had. Conrad's grip on the steering wheel tightened as Lorna looked down at her gun and holstered it, deciding it was too loud. This left her at a loss of what to grab for a few moments until she pulled the long, thick knife out of her boot, silently relieved that this had been the boot that was in tact. Conrad glanced at the two of them in the rearview mirror, and stared at Lorna intently until she looked over and, still stoic, nodded at him. He swallowed hard as he pulled into the checkpoint and found no guards at the entrance to open the gate.
The young man got out of the car (very reluctantly) and made his way to the latch. They never locked it because there were supposed to be guards stationed at it twenty-four hours a day. The lack of guards was both a relief and a very, very bad sign. The gate flew open, having been jarred from its position by Conrad's foot, and creaked open while he slowly and carefully made his way back to the driver's seat in the jeep. He bit his lip as he pulled forward and past the checkpoint. He made a move to get out to close the gate only to be interrupted by Lorna.
"Don't get out of the car, just drive," Lorna said quickly and quietly. Conrad was far past the point of not obeying orders, and sped away from the checkpoint, hoping and praying that whatever had happened here was unimportant until they came over a hill. Lorna stifled Conrad's shout by placing a gloved hand over his mouth, but he kept driving, eyes wide and frantic.
Lurkers. Walkers. Undead. Zombies, whatever you wanted to call them. They were everywhere. They dotted the small settlement in front of them like ants. Lorna released Conrad and he veered off to the right, trying to avoid as many of them as possible-- but it was too late. They had heard them and they were coming.
Lorna stood up in the backseat, knife at the ready before looking down and wrinkling her nose- half at the screaming pain of her ankle and half at realizing how useless her weapon was. This knife would barely put a dent in anything. It was big, but the dead would have to be practically on top of her for her to do significant damage. She held out a hand to Rick, not to help him up, but expectantly.
"Lemme borrow a bat."
She didn't need to say much else. If she used a gun, she would not only use ammo, but allow every lurker in the area to know where they were-- not to mention guards. This team was enemies to both the dead and the living, and she couldn't afford the bullets anyway.
"You mean we're DRIVING THROUGH THIS?" Conrad said, much too loudly from the front seat.
"No choice. Keep driving and we'll keep you alive," Lorna said confidently-- much more confidently than she felt.
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Concieo
Jul 24, 2014 1:48:40 GMT -6
Post by ashestoApples on Jul 24, 2014 1:48:40 GMT -6
CommanderStarseed: The stench made his nose crinkle, his pupils dilate, and his palms sweat. He was positively vibrating with useless energy, watching Conrad climb out of the car and go to open the gate. Rick was frozen like a statue, wanting to scream but not daring to. He knew it was within his very best interests not to. He also wanted to reach forward and grab the younger man by the back of the shirt, yank him back into the jeep, and insist they could find another way. He didn't do that either. He also knew they had no other choice. Walking straight into the reek of death and decay was their only option.
Clenching his jaw, he watched Conrad like a hawk as he climbed back into the jeep, and then set his head to function as a rudimentary scanner. He kept his eyes peeled for any sign of the undead shambling towards the jeep, sweat breaking out on his forehead now. Which, come to think of it, was aching. He put a hand over it briefly and it came away with a faint dark stain. Was he bleeding?
He went to feel the spot again, when they all spotted them at once. The walking meat bags. Every muscle in his body clenched so tightly in fear, it actually hurt. The zombies had spotted them, too. Trapped in a moving box, with two strangers he couldn't be sure he could trust not to shank or shoot him in the back yet, with hungry predators headed his way. He had definitely seen brighter days.
He was snapped out of his terrified reverie by Lorna's hand coming into his field of vision. She had asked for something, but he missed what, too preoccupied with his own thoughts of unlikely survival to take it in. Stupid, stupid, stupid... what if it was about escaping? He squinted at her face, trying to discern what she could have said.
Weapon. She wanted a weapon.
Scrambling for his belt, he unclipped the alluminum bat and handed it to her, before managing to stand up as well and drawing his trusty wooden bat with several metal nails and spikes rammed through it. The end was still stained with old, dried blood from his very brief, past encounter with zombies, before he and his family had reached what they had thought was a safe area. His hand clenched around the handle, grinding his teeth together.
'Please, don't let history repeat itself.' He thought bitterly, readying himself for a proper take down.
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Concieo
Jul 24, 2014 1:49:01 GMT -6
Post by ashestoApples on Jul 24, 2014 1:49:01 GMT -6
zykrinnox: Lorna glanced over at Rick, unsure if she was shaking or if he was, but knowing something was off. She furrowed her brow as she was jolted in the back by a bump in the road.
"Sorry!" Conrad called, but it was lost on her ears.
She was fixated on Rick at this point. His forehead was bleeding-- the patient file had said he had a tumor, not any sort of abrasion. Had he hurt himself without her noticing? Maybe in a scuffle? Or while she was gone slashing tires? The undead were practically on top of them at that point, but for some reason Lorna couldn't tear her eyes away. She was confused to an unnecessary degree, but she could see the pieces. It was like when a word was on the tip of your tongue, or when you couldn't remember a word you were looking for but you knew what the word meant and maybe even what it started with. She saw the symptoms and she thought she had an idea of what it could mean, but she couldn't hook it together. It was like the deceiving piece in a puzzle that you would swear could fit to another piece you found, but it wasn't quite meshing.
She opened her mouth to ask him a question, she didn't know what, but was cut off by a walker at her ankle-- the blood, of course. Fresh blood. They could smell them now, too, and they were getting hungry. The walker wasted no time grabbing her ankle as soon as he got there-- she hadn't even registered what was happening and she was on the seat and partially on the ground of the jeep. A zombie had climbed on it somehow and had knocked her over-- it wanted more now, but as she raised her bat to hit it, Rick was way ahead of her. She thought she heard him shout something, but couldn't remember what it was.
Lorna shook her head and stood back up, being careful to balance herself and keep a steady eye. She nailed a couple walkers who were getting too close with the aluminum bat-- she knew they were down and probably not out, but actually bashing their skull in while they were in a moving vehicle would have been hard and it wasn't entirely necessary as long as they could make it out alive. If it was a fight the zombs wanted, it was a fight they were going to get.
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Concieo
Jul 24, 2014 1:49:20 GMT -6
Post by ashestoApples on Jul 24, 2014 1:49:20 GMT -6
CommanderStarseed: "Watch out!" He shouted, whether to Conrad for jostling the jeep (which almost had him tumbling out of the side of it, dammit!) or Lorna for freezing up out of nowhere, was unclear.
He swung his bat forward, smashing it into the side of the head of the one on top of Lorna. He was rewarded with a satisfying SPLUNCH as skull gave way underneath the stab of one of the metal bits jutting out of the bat, gore splattering into Conrad's back - which had the kid jumping and almost swerving the jeep, but he regained control of himself before that happened - and partially onto Rick's stomach, since he was standing over his dirty deed. More importantly, the swing had the now-decimated zombie flying off of the jeep, landing who knows where as they sped along.
Satisfied when he saw Lorna get up and get back into the action, Rick turned his back on her. They were standing back to back now, occasionally painfully bumping into each other at times the jeep rocked or they swung their bats with enough ferocity to fend off the rabid undead.
With an enraged snarl that turned into a roar, Rick swung his bat directly downwards into the back of the neck of a particularly stubborn zombie that clung to the side of the jeep and had tried to claw at his legs for the second time. The result was launching the thing's head clear off - into the jeep at their feet, unfortunately. Questions filtered unhindered into his mind - could the undead follow the same rules human heads did where they could still do simple actions for a few moments after, uh, death? Even if it was their second death? Was biting a simple enough action to perform? It didn't really seem to matter if he was bitten, since he was immune, but his companions certainly seemed the sort to start thinking getting bitey was an especially catching idea if they were bit first. Thinking fast, he punted the head like a soccer ball, whistling with malicious glee that turned into cackling when it launched out the jeep and took down another zombie when it hit them square in the chest. Sometimes, he felt he could pride himself on his aim! If it wasn't for the noise, he'd tell Lorna to hand over her gun. He was clearly an expert, despite never having shot on in his life yet.
"How much longer ya plan on drivin' us in circles through zombie-infested waters, driver boy?!" Rick shouted over the chaos, not sparring a look in Conrad's direction as he did.
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Concieo
Jul 24, 2014 1:49:36 GMT -6
Post by ashestoApples on Jul 24, 2014 1:49:36 GMT -6
zykrinnox: "I'm sorry! They're everywhere! I'm trying to get us out!" Conrad yelled from the front seat as a zombie latched onto his windshield. He swerved, trying to shake it off, before realizing that he was potentially knocking Rick and Lorna around or even out of the jeep. Standing up in the seat (the jeep slowed considerably), he bent over, still holding onto the wheel with one hand and kicked it off.
Lorna sideswiped a few more walkers and straight up kicked one off the side. There had to be at least a hundred of the things around-- maybe more. Had all of the occupants of this camp been infected? That was impossible, the incubation period was at least three to five days-- sometimes even up to a week! She had passed through this checkpoint not twenty-four hours ago. Either they all sped through the process as fast as children-- faster, actually-- and with a higher success rate than children, or these walkers chased out an entire town. Either way, Lorna was starting to get legitimately scared.
"This doesn't make any sense!" she yelled as she smacked another undead.
"Didn't you say this checkpoint was fine this morning?" Conrad hollered back at her.
"Yeah, because it WAS!"
Lorna glanced out in front of them. The gate on the other side wasn't far now, but--
"Shit," Conrad said. "What do I do? They're everywhere!"
They were. Their exit was coated with the lurkers and Lorna couldn't see anyway they could make it out that way. The fence was too high to climb, and they needed the jeep anyway so they needed to try to save it. Lonra swore under her breath, which was probably unheard by both of the men (maybe not Rick since their backs were touching at this point, but she was trying not to dwell on that part).
"The only way out is through!" Lorna yelled over the moans and groans of the zombies all around them.
"You've gotta be joking!" Conrad yelled. "Rick, tell her she's crazy!"
"You know what else is crazy? How many zombies there are and how easily the two of us could both become one of them if we don't get out of here and fast!"
Conrad vaguely wondered what she meant by 'the two of us,' but figured she was mostly concerned about herself and Rick at this point, not considering him a part of their group. He was a hostage, after all. What Lorna meant was actually that Rick would most likely be fine regardless of the bites and scrapes from the walking dead, but she wasn't too keen on testing that part either.
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Concieo
Jul 24, 2014 1:49:59 GMT -6
Post by ashestoApples on Jul 24, 2014 1:49:59 GMT -6
CommanderStarseed: He wanted to scream at them both to shut up, because their worrying really wasn't helping his worrying and he was severely less informed on the topic of zombies than they were. It left a lot of paranoia buzzing in his head that made his head hurt even worse and, he could definitely confirm it now, the bleeding worse as he felt it dribble down his forehead. Dark fluid flowed more naturally into the indentations next to the bridge of his nose caused by his eyes, giving him the desire to blink or squint and now really wasn't the time. Shaking his head hard enough to dislodge some of the blood, it flew off his face, some of it just flowing faster down his face and leaving streaks in its wake down the sides of his nose and corners of his mouth. He licked his lips and it tasted vile, so he spat in a zombie's face before kicking it in the shoulder, hearing a loud snap as its arm grasping to the side of the jeep gave out and it tumbled away.
"Yer both fuckin' crazy!" He hollered over his shoulder, before swinging his bat sideways into a zombie that collided with another trying to get up and they both slipped, but weren't entirely dislodged. He stomped on ones fingers and that did the trick, though the other still remained momentarily. "But ya know what else is fuckin' crazy? Not getting' de fuck outta here! RAM IT, BOY!" He shouted to Conrad, commanding him to do as Lorna had told and just floor it and hope for the best.
Finishing his rant, he rammed the handle of his bat directly into the same spot between the eyes, on the bridge of the nose, of the zombie he hadn't successfully gotten rid of earlier. Just like his own face, the spot blossomed with dark blood, the zombie giving off a loud gurgling warble as its face caved in as Rick applied as much pressure as possible until the bone gave way and his bat rammed into the gooey bits underneath. He yanked it back out with a loud, disgusting popping noise, the zombie's fingers twitching and letting go as it too joined the others that had been disposed of. Rick made a disgruntled face and quickly used his forearm to wipe at his forehead, his entire arm coming away covered in dark, more-black-than-red blood.
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Concieo
Jul 24, 2014 1:50:22 GMT -6
Post by ashestoApples on Jul 24, 2014 1:50:22 GMT -6
zykrinnox: "UGH. Alright, but DON'T SAY I DIDN'T WARN YOU!" Conrad begrudgingly floored the jeep, squinting and turning his head a bit as he did, bracing for impact-- which came quickly. Some of the smarter zombies were getting out of the way, but some of the more agile lurkers climbed on the hood or hung on to edges. Just as Lorna was about to try to navigate to the front seat to stand in instead to get some of them off the hood, she glanced at Rick who had black gunk dripping down his face??
"What the HELL, Rick?" she cried after beating off a particularly persistent undead, looking at him with her eye partially squinted in confusion. "Did you strike OIL while I wasn't looking?"
"Liddle busy righ' now!" he yelled in between strikes.
She knew that later would be a better time to ask, so instead of fight him about it, she nudged her way around him to stand in the front seat and knock off some walkers from the hood. Conrad was so terrified at this point that he wasn't speaking (out of inability or refusal, she wasn't sure). Suddenly, the jeep stopped, lurching Lorna forward almost hard enough that she collided with a walker. She regained her balance quickly before striking it instead.
"Come on, kid, just a little further!" Lorna said, looking down at him. The other side of the checkpoint was only a few feet away, but they had the gate to worry about. Conrad looked around frantically and turned his gaze over to Lorna, panic-stricken. She bit her lip hard when she realized what he was silently asking-- someone had to open the gate. She swore loudly before hopping up to where the windshield used to be and making her way down the hood, one step at a time, while crunching the bat into anything that got in her way. By the time Rick realized exactly what she was doing (he was rather occupied at the moment), she was close to hopping off the hood.
"Yeh really ARE crazy!" Rick yelled. "Get back in dis jeep, woman!"
"I have to open the gate!" One particularly strong zombie was getting up every time she smacked it and she was all but surrounded on every angle. She needed a place to step off and this bat wasn't working anymore. "Oh, screw it!" she cried before tossing the bat back into the front seat and pulling out her glock. She cocked it and shot 6 times, watched for a moment with a slight smirk as six bodies went down and then proceeded to jump off the hood. Her bandaged foot cried out in pain as it came into contact with a very sharp rock and started gushing blood. The gun and fresh blood seemed to be more than enough to get the walkers' attention, and as such, she had used most of the 22 bullets in her first gun by the time she made it to the gate. She went to kick it open, but it didn't budge. She looked at the latch before trying to lift it up and even kicking the latch up with her boot didn't move it a millimeter.
"It's stuck!" She looked around and shot a few more times, which was all fine and good for the zombies immediately surrounding her, but there were several more trying to climb in the jeep that Rick was preoccupied with. Lorna kicked the latch again in a desperate attempt to do it herself so Rick didn't have to come over, but to no avail. "Rick!"
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Concieo
Jul 24, 2014 1:51:16 GMT -6
Post by ashestoApples on Jul 24, 2014 1:51:16 GMT -6
CommanderStarseed: "GodDAMMIT!" He screamed, figuring the amount of noise he made now didn't matter with the zombies closing in on the one with the loud, blasty thing and he could bet her foot had started gushing a zombie's favourite beverage again. With his bat behind his back, he swung forward so fiercely into the head of an undead directly in front of him that its forehead caved in on impact, the insides splattering everywhere.
"Conrad!" He shouted, getting the boy's attention, "Yer on yer own fer a sec! Grab a bat, n' be a brave lil toaster!" Before the young man could argue - which he obviously wanted to, from the way Rick caught a seconds-worth of a glimpse at the terrified widening of his eyes before he reached forward, directly shoving his arms into the throng of zombies in his way. He parted them like he was doing a breaststroke, shoving them out of the way and was rewarded with several scrapes for his efforts as they desperately clawed at his arms. He used the leverage and momentum from pushing himself off of them to jump a few feet out of the jeep though, landing in a crouch with one hand braced forward for another push before he took off running, bat still in hand.
He didn't waste time clobbering every zombie on his path, instead just barrelling through them whenever possible. He only took time to club the stubborn ones that got a good hold of him, mostly just resulting in himself getting covered in more blood and more tears in his clothing but managing to avoid more bites. Not that it mattered.
One particular zombie managed to dig its nails directly into the junction of his neck through, scraping down until they hooked on his collarbone and it used this advantage as he grunted in pain to yank itself, jaw open, into his awaiting other shoulder. Fresh red blood splurted outwards, coating the undead's rotting mouth and face and quickly soaking into Rick's shirt. He sagged briefly, the walker trying to drag him down with it as he swung his bat into its legs. With an almighty roar, he grabbed the thing by the back of the neck and twisted. It flew off with a chunk of his flesh still clenched between its teeth, his neck gushing blood from the open wound. He clenched his fist so hard, the brittle bones of the zombie's neck shattered and crumbled under his grip, and he tossed it aside as he continued charging forward. The scent of his blood had now made him a new, tasty-looking target to the zombies, which had the nice bonus of drawing them off of Lorna, but unfortunately made it that much harder for him to reach her. She helped him by picking some off though, and he was silently grateful for her impressive aim despite having only one eye.
"MOVE!" He howled, though Lorna wasn't exactly in the way of him aiming his raised bat at the locked gate. She hopped out of the way obediently regardless, and he swung down as hard as he could. The lock broke and went flying into pieces, one of them painfully hitting Rick in the knee as he raised the opposite leg to kick the gate open with a pained victory shout. "Now," He said, voice still booming as he turned towards Lorna and almost tackled into her stomach, pulling her over his shoulder as he did and turning in the direction of the jeep. To his great relief, Conrad was at the wheel and looking no worse for wear, just extremely panic-striken. But Rick could work with that - panic was good, it meant the adrenaline was flowing.
Carrying a surprised and angry Lorna, he made his way back to the jeep as quickly as possible, jumping into the back seat with Lorna in tow so he was practically on top of her. He didn't need to instruct Conrad to drive as he toured through the now-open gate, and onwards to what they all prayed would be freedom from this ongoing nightmare.
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Concieo
Jul 24, 2014 1:51:30 GMT -6
Post by ashestoApples on Jul 24, 2014 1:51:30 GMT -6
zykrinnox: Unfortunately, in his process of jumping into the jeep she painfully hit her shoulder-- which, really, wasn't his fault and she didn't blame him, but shot pain through her arm from the scarring there and also tore into it harshly and painfully enough to draw blood. It wasn't bad, though, and she was much more concerned with all the blood loss Rick was currently facing; she was so concerned with this that she didn't even cry out in pain when she hit the handle of the door originally.
"Well," she choked before clearing her throat. "That was fun."
"RICK WAS BITTEN AND YOU THINK THAT WAS FUN?" Conrad yelled. "GET HIM OUT OF HERE OR I WILL."
"He's not going anywhere. Would you shut up for a second? Your voice is giving me a headache." It wasn't entirely true-- she was actually feeling lightheaded, but she couldn't say that or they'd tell her to deal with her wounds even though Rick's were far more important.
"HE. WAS. BITTEN." Conrad cried, glaring at her through the rearview mirror. "I will NOT shut up for a second!"
She ignored him for the time being, as did Rick. Lorna sat up a bit with her good arm, releasing a grunt as she did. Rick followed suit and got off of her, whether because he wasn't thinking about how he could use the position to his advantage or if it was uncomfortable or he wanted Lorna to be able to adminster first aid she wasn't sure, but nevertheless, she reached for her bag (which was on the floor still) and pulled it upright.
"Come here," Lorna said, turning toward Rick with the alcohol, "And take your hat off so I can see your forehead."
He didn't do the latter, but she turned to his shoulder to tend to the bite first. Her hands were cold on his skin as she pulled the sleeve of his shirt up and over his shoulder. It was too covered in blood to see the bite itself, though, so she reached down to trade out the alcohol for a rag and her canteen. If she poured alcohol on it as it was right now, he probably would have yelled and she had enough mercy not to do that to him. She uncapped the canteen and poured some of it on his shoulder before wiping it carefully with the rag-- it probably hurt, but not terribly. Sure enough, over the plethora of various tattoos that Lorna acknowledged but didn't comment on, it looked like a normal bite. A human bite, but still a normal one. Certainly not an undead's mark.
"Amazing," she said quietly. She actually meant to talk at normal tone, but she was feeling tired and a half-tone was all she could manage. It just made her sound even more amazed than she actually was, but that was of little consequence right now, she decided while picking up the alcohol again.
"Alright, you know the drill," she said a bit more loudly as she dabbed the cotton wad onto the spout of the alcohol and poured, thoroughly soaking it. "I'll try not to be too much of a nuisance, but I have no idea how it's going to feel on a bite." She hoped it would react like a normal cut since he was immune, but she was unsure, so she carefully traced the teeth marks with the cotton ball and glanced over at his face.
"Can someone tell me why Mein Fuhrer isn't shooting Rick in the head?" Conrad asked no one in particular. "Because it seemed like something she would do to an INFECTED!"
"Yeah, so give me a little more credit, kid. He's the Code Spes."
"Yeah, so what?"
She furrowed her brow at the back of his head and rolled her eyes before turning her attention back to Rick. If the kid was actually planning on leaving (she could only assume he was since she had kidnapped him, after all, and it hadn't exactly been smooth sailing since she had), him being oblivious to the situation was better.
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Concieo
Jul 24, 2014 1:52:02 GMT -6
Post by ashestoApples on Jul 24, 2014 1:52:02 GMT -6
CommanderStarseed: Gritting his teeth in an attempt to ignore the stinging pain of his bite, he shot a glare at Conrad, before swivelling confused eyes on Lorna. He silently asked, 'Aren't ya gonna tell 'im?' But neither of them said anything as she continued to clean his wound. Though he knew it was necessary, he also thought the process was rather stupid as blood continued to try to flow down his arm every time Lorna swiped at the marks with the now-pink stained cotton ball.
zykrinnox: Lorna shrugged at him but her shoulder quickly slumped as she let out a yawn. She reached back for her bag again and took out a big, thick gauze pad and placed it on his shoulder before bandaging his shoulder up and glancing at his forehead. As she did so, she gently pulled his sleeve back into place. When they got to her house, he would need some new clothes. Lorna had never seen a white shirt so stained.
"You going to let me see your forehead? You look like you struck oil but there's blood under there too."
"You gonna tell me why the hell you haven't shot him yet?" Conrad said impatiently from the front seat.
"Not if you plan on leaving and telling all of your military buddies."
Conrad gripped the steering wheel hard and didn't reply for a while. Lorna glanced back over at Rick, but it seemed he was too distracted with Conrad's grip on the steering wheel to notice-- or he was using it as a distraction. She wasn't sure which it was, but sighed at either outcome in advance, tending to the latter first.
"You helped us get through the checkpoint, technically, so if you want to go back, go," she said before glancing down at Rick's knee where the piece of the lock had collided. He had lots of bruises and scrapes, but she didn't have the resources to tend to everything, just the big wounds. She could deal with the rest when they got to her place. "It's your decision. Stay with us for the ride to North Dakota and to find out what's up with Rick, but if you're going to be dead-weight you might as well leave now. We don't have the resources for someone who's on the fence, but I'm not going to turn a kid away either." At this point, she folded up a bit of the tear in the knee of his jeans to look more closely at the site of impact. It just looked like a bruise, so she backed away from him (she had to intrude quite a bit of his personal space to see the injury).
"Does your knee feel okay?" she asked slowly in the midst of Conrad's silence while bending toward Rick a bit, further out of his space, but still bending to see. "Looks like a bruise, but joint injuries can be tr- trol-- trubb--" Her face screwed up partially in effort to say what she had intended, but before long she leaned further forward and went limp, lying on Rick's shoulder and arm, completely unconscious.
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Concieo
Jul 24, 2014 1:52:58 GMT -6
Post by ashestoApples on Jul 24, 2014 1:52:58 GMT -6
CommanderStarseed: Frowning at Conrad, he furrowed his eyebrows and wondered how little a master sergeant could know about his own government's actions. Did he not even know what Spes meant? Not that Rick had at first either, but he was a civilian being held against his will. Not a willing armed soldier in their ranks. Rolling his eyes harshly at their back-and-forth, he debated telling Conrad himself why it didn't freakin' matter whether or not he was bitten, as long as neither of them were, but then Lorna was asking him about something wrong with his body again besides the mark on his forehead. For whatever reason, he was extremely hesitant to let her look at whatever his wound there was doing. He just wanted to ignore it for now.
He was about to tell her his knee had seen far worse, and she should deal with her own damn wounds, when the red head unexpectedly collapsed into him and he froze. He stared at the back of Conrad's head for guidance, missing the widening of the young man's eyes in the rear view mirror. Rick grabbed Lorna by the shoulders and gave a gentle shake, trying to rouse her.
"'Ey? Wake up. Lorna?" He said quietly, his voice wavering more than he'd ever admit. He reached out a hand to poke the driver in the shoulder instead. "You. Conrad, right? Help? Whadde hell're we s'posed ta do?!"
zykrinnox: He blinked a few times at Rick in his rearview mirror. "Wait, is she--? Shit! Don't tell me she passed out!" Conrad pulled over to the side of the road and twisted in his seat to look at them.
"Fuhrer? Hello? Goddammit, how much blood did she lose?" he said louder than he needed to. "Is this from her wound earlier? Or did she get new wounds other than the bumps and bruises you both have? I swear if she blacked out from loss of blood after tending to your every scratch..."
He rubbed his forehead before looking up at Rick suddenly. "Rick, your hand-- is that your blood or hers?" Sure enough, the seemingly innocent bump on her shoulder had started bleeding as well.
CommanderStarseed: "How should I know, dammit?!" He managed to keep his voice at a level below Conrad's, not wanting to draw the attention of the undead they had just barely escaped from. "Do I look like sum kin'a goddamn medical expert ta you?!"
Grabbing Conrad by the collar, he pulled until they were nose to nose and he was glaring directly into the kid's eyes.
"Jus' get yer ass in dis fuckin' back seat n help her."
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Concieo
Jul 24, 2014 1:53:46 GMT -6
Post by ashestoApples on Jul 24, 2014 1:53:46 GMT -6
zykrinnox: "Jeez, fine, fine, not that there's a lot of ROOM back there," he said sarcastically, out of pure annoyance. "Get her outside, lie her down on the ground or something and tell me what the damage is-- or at least how many of her injuries are bleeding."
He began rummaging through her backpack and after a minute he frowned. "From the looks of it, she used most of what she had on you. Depending on the damage we should be able to patch her up, though. We might need more binding," he trailed off as he looked at his sleeves, wondering how much of them he could give up and then wondering why he cared and if it was for a reason other than Rick killing him if he didn't patch her up. Why was he still here, anyway?
CommanderStarseed: Obeying Conrad's instructions, Rick carefully pulled Lorna out of the back of the jeep and held her as he tried to kick stones and twigs out of the way as he laid her on the ground. When he was done that, he looked at Conrad, his eyes oddly shiny.
"Thank you." He said sincerely, tipping his head so his hat hid his eyes now. "Fer all yer help."
zykrinnox: Conrad froze, momentarily perplexed by Rick's face. What were the first words Rick had said to him? Something about bashing his skull in or related to that idea.
"You're welcome," he said, turning his attention back to the bag on the floor.
How long had the Fuhrer and Rick known each other, anyway? If he was already thanking him for his service even though he'd been kind of a jerk about it most of the time, then maybe not for long, or maybe he was just automatically inclined to protect and guard people, but either way, he was treating Lorna not like someone who had been yelling at them since they left the settlement, but like someone he'd known for years who was close to death. What had happened with those two before the Fuhrer took Conrad for his help? Why was she here for a Code Spes, anyway? Those usually ended up being false alarms-- in fact, obviously they hadn't had a single real one or they wouldn't be in this mess. This happened so often that it didn't even phase most people anymore and the Fuhrer of all people had a reputation. She was a Sergeant or something, back when the ranks meant something, and she was good. Really good. Wasn't she stationed in the northern central part of the U.S.? And, most importantly--
"Why didn't the Fuhrer put a bullet through your head?" he asked as he climbed out of the jeep with the pack. "She doesn't seem like the type to take risks with potential corpses."
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Concieo
Jul 24, 2014 1:54:53 GMT -6
Post by ashestoApples on Jul 24, 2014 1:54:53 GMT -6
CommanderStarseed: Frowning now, Rick scooted backwards and rested in a crouch with his hands on either side of him, giving Conrad plenty of room but still near enough he could jump in and help somehow if required.
"I thought she said I wazza Code Spes'r whatever." He grumbled, rubbing the back of his neck. Debating how to explain this to the kid without risking him freaking out, he flopped backwards onto his hind quarters and rolled up his pant leg, before pulling down his boot and sock as well. "Check it out. Dis is over a month old."
He pointed to the impressive scar on his ankle, the full circle of little marks from human-looking teeth. Wordlessly, he pulled his sock and shoe back on, but remained in his now-seated position to look more casual than he felt.
"I got bit. But I didn't turn. Don't ask me why - I dunno either."
Fussing with his bloody, stained shirt sleeve, he rolled it up slowly while keeping eye contact with the younger male.
"'N dis? Dis ain't gonna turn me either. Dat's why she ain't shootin' me, n' why I hope ya won't neither."
He yanked his sleeve back down, the action causing a minor ache in his fresh wound but nothing too noticeable. He tilted his head to one side, squinting at Conrad to gauge his reaction to this news.
zykrinnox: Conrad was silent at first while trying to find any wounds she had that could be a problem, only looking up to see the bite before going back to tending to her wounds. After a few minutes, and after he had cleaned and re-bandaged her foot (more tightly this time, to stop what bleeding he could) and began trying to get to her shoulder (why did she wear so many layers???), he ran a hand through his hair.
Hands still working, he said, "You mean, you could actually be a real cure, something humanity's been waiting for for far too long now, and you're trying to run away from the people who could find out? You could save everyone and you're saving yourself? That's pretty selfish and I don't know why the Fuhrer would help you. You could END all of this--" --he gestured in the air vaguely before moving back to Lorna's (now mostly bare) arm-- "--and instead you're running away? Why?"
CommanderStarseed: Frowning deeper, Rick's nose scrunched up in an obvious expression of distaste.
"Ya don't know much 'bout whaddit'd take ta gedda cure, do ya?" He growled, voice low and dangerous. "Fer one thing, I'd hafta die fer ya to even HOPEFULLY learn ANYTHIN'. Fer anudder, ya likely wouldn't. Fuhrer herself told me dat, so blame her if ya wanna blame someone. Dey called her in ta pick ma brain, n' she refused."
Taking off his hat now, Rick himself wasn't actually aware of how bad it looked, but he could guess. His forehead was a disgusting mess of large, black smears, with one angry-looking scabbing mark at the center of it. There were streaks of black and red running down, having dripped down the sides of his nose and past his mouth earlier. He looked like he'd gotten into a fight while changing the oil on a car, and lost.
"Ya see dis? Dis has somethin' ta do wid ma immunity. But could I tell ya what? No. No one's told me shit, besides her tellin' me yer higher ups jus' wanted ta pick around in my brain til dey hopefully found something. Even if de only livin' immune person alive died in da process. Fer no guarantee on nothin'."
Spitting in disgust, Rick wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and smeared the marks on his face even more.
"Does dat seem fair ta you, kid?"
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Concieo
Jul 24, 2014 1:56:13 GMT -6
Post by ashestoApples on Jul 24, 2014 1:56:13 GMT -6
zykrinnox: His brow furrowed when he looked up and it only proceeded to furrow even more as he spoke. He was almost finished binding her most obvious wounds, but he knew they should probably make sure she wasn't bleeding anywhere else-- like where her shirt was torn on her left forearm. For now, he fell back off of his knees, sitting on the ground now much like Rick was and looked over at him.
"Yeah." Conrad looked back down at Lorna-- the scar tissue on her arm was still visible because the wound needed to breathe. A million different scenarios went through his mind as to how it happened and at some of them, an involuntary cringe formed on his face that he tried to quickly wipe away. It wasn't that they were gross or mucky or anything like that, just.. they looked like they hurt.
He frowned, creating more wrinkles that looked out of place on his otherwise youthful face. He looked up at Rick after a few minutes and said, "Can I come with you?"
CommanderStarseed: "S'not entirely up ta me." Rick indicated, with a nod of his head towards the unconscious woman laying on the ground. "But if yer gonna continue ta pull yer weight n prove yerself trust worthy, yer okay in my books."
Pulling his cap back on, Rick briefly winced as it brushed against the tender spot on his forehead.
"Now finish bandagin' 'er up, medic boy."
zykrinnox: He nodded and pulled Lorna's sleeves back down and replaced her glove. He set to work putting small band-aids on any open cuts he could see.
"I thought you were going to ask if I had any family I was leaving behind or something," he admitted quietly as he set to work on a larger wound with some sports tape and a gauze pad. He seemed like the type to put people he cared about or was loyal to before anything. A bit like a dog, if how protective of Lorna he was was any indication. "Everyone always asks that."
CommanderStarseed: Giving Conrad a considering stare, Rick sighed heavily and slumped his shoulders.
"Okay, what family r'ya leavin' behind?" He asked, since the kid obviously wanted to talk about it. Rick kind of assumed at this point people didn't have family if they willingly wandered out here. He definitely had no reason to leave before he lost everything he'd had.
zykrinnox: He looked up at Rick again as he tossed some trash from the bandaids in a steadily accumulating pile. Shrugging, he picked up the stack and shoved it in a side pocket of the backpack, making sure to get all of the trash so he could more properly dispose of it later. It didn't matter anymore, and he knew that, but it still didn't feel right leaving it around, and on further consideration he realized he didn't really want people tracking them anyway.
"It's not important. I just expected you to ask."
After a long silence, he sighed as he unwrapped another bandaid and tended to yet another cut (there were more of these things on her than there were zombies in the last camp, he could swear it) and said, "My sister. Just her. She doesn't need me though, and she'll be safer there. If I'm going to die eventually, I'd rather it not be a military-related death. If it's finding a cure she'll at least have a reason to be proud of me." He glanced up at him again, before fixing his gaze on Lorna's left glove. "Is that stupid?"
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